Now peacefully seated in Ade’s office, Dara gawks at the abstract wall painting adorning the top left corner of the room. She peruses every inch of the portrait, as though it is her first time visualizing an art piece.
‘Nice painting you have here,’ she mentions with a smile and several head nods. ‘Your choice of colours is quite exquisite, I am in love.’
‘Thank you,’ Ade calmly replies.
‘Tea?’ He offers before heading towards the tea table. His tea table is petite and adorned with several, vintage ceramic teapots and saucers. It is almost as though he entertains unusual guests on a regular basis.
‘No thanks,’ she replies hastily.
Ade pours himself a cup of tea before sinking into his leather chair. The soothing fragrance of the green tea calms his nerves, but not for long.
His guest, apparently not done with her drama, breaks the awkward silence.
‘Your office space, and this building in general, fit perfectly into the vision for my budding technology platform. I would love to purchase the entire building.
Trust me, my offer would be generous. All I need is to speak with management, or better still, Mr Smith.’
For a moment, Ade was perturbed by her sudden mood change, he stared at her in disbelief as she continued her chain of conversation.
‘As soon as I finalise discussion of the selling price with Smith, the transfer of the required funds would be made immediately.’
Hilarious and ridiculous, were words that only breached the surface to describe her proposal.
On a regular day, Ade would have burst into bouts of laughter, but this was clearly no ordinary day.
It began to dawn on Ade that the “unwanted guest” situation was going overboard. Sadly, common sense still took the back seat. He instead, chose to reach out to her father in a bid to keep his words.
‘What are you getting yourself into?’ His brain made a final attempt to set him back to reality.
‘Is this little brat on a mission? Is she truly ill? Or perhaps the star actress of a prank show.’
Ade battled helplessly with unanswered questions.
To think that she conveniently forgot her recent failed transaction with a renewed audacity to
show off wealth she distinctly lacks, spoke delusion volumes.
He concluded…..’This Lady is most definitely up to no good, and the outcome of her theatrics might cost much more than I bargained for.’
Despite his analysis, alerting the company’s security department still was not foremost in his plan priorities. The Urge to fulfil his promise to her father eliminated his final sense of logical reasoning.
The only question was…….. for how long? how long before the situation spirals out of control? How long before Mr Smith discovers this quagmire and presents him with a well-deserved sanction?
For a Narcissist like Fola Smith who sits fat on a trust fund he never worked for, he lacks the desire to show his staff any form of regard. The insults were becoming ceaseless and quite frankly unbearable.
‘Not today, definitely not today! I am in no mood for insults,’ Ade ruminates before addressing Dara.
‘Hey sweetie, I am flattered that you consider our space worthy of purchase. To proceed with this investment however, I would need to download, and activate the company’s application on your mobile device.’
‘What does an app have to do with the sale of a property?’ Her closely knit brows are raised in expectation of a befitting reply.
‘The app is instrumental to assessing the building’s net worth amongst other things. Trust me, this app is sure to speed up the selling process and reduce the otherwise stressful paperwork,’ Ade makes a feeble attempt to buttress his point.
‘Alright, go ahead,’ She replies by handing over her sturdy android device. ‘Can I meet with your boss please?’
Engrossed with the search of her father’s phone number, he barely takes note of her request.
‘Your boss, Fola Smith, could you lead me to his office? I know he is around, take me to him.’ She yells with a tinge of desperation.
Ade pauses for a moment to study her behaviour, there is something strange, and almost sinister about her stance.
‘Easy there, Dara, this would happen in due time, we need to take it step by step,’ He responds, a little frightened, before returning her mobile device.
‘Now that the app has been activated, you would need to sign up for the mortgage plan, but
that would be as soon as I get back. I need to use the rest room.’
Ade scurries into the confined convenience at the back of his office. It is a petite structure built with fine spruce and Larch to give the structure the luxurious feel that comes with wood work.
After three failed call attempts to her father, he is done with the circus.
‘This should never have been my pot of soup! Why I made it my business, at the expense of this already unstable job is nothing short of stupidity,’ He mumbles.
A startling sound from his office interrupts his regret bouts.
‘Isn’t that Mr Smith’s voice?’ Ade panics before dashing out for a situation assessment.
Fola Smith was right there in his office, and he was furious. This was far from the usual….”I am owner of the company,” sort of anger. Something was seriously off. The reverberation of his baritone voice across the sparsely furnished room, sent chills down Ade’s spine.
‘‘It is over! There is no coming back from this,’ Ade cries, knowing he is done for.
After five full minutes of clear thinking, the real problem becomes glaring to him. His unusual
guest and Mr Smith are at loggerheads.
Too much was happening too fast, the dots were finally connecting; her constant request to
speak with his boss, her feigning of delusions to draw the much needed attention, and that questionable familiarity with Fola Smith. It made perfect sense.
Fola wasn’t particularly infuriated by his decision to accommodate a non-paying guest during
work hours, his grievance was the identity of this particular guest.
Each passing minute was intense. Squeals and insults flew mercilessly across the room as the entire staff of Smith & Co peeped shamelessly through the office door to satisfy their curiosity.
Raving like a complete lunatic, with cold eyes of resentment, she yells…. ‘You idiot!’
‘Did you really think you could go free after ruining my life?’ Tears run swiftly down her cheeks.
‘I gave you five freaking years of my life.’
Ade stood in shock; nothing could have prepared him for the chaos unfolding before his eyes.
‘Fix yourself!’ Smith replies, fuming.
‘I refuse to be subjected to a relationship with an insecure low life like you. We just don’t fit
into the same social sphere, please get that straight,’ he scoffs.
‘You were nothing but a thing of pleasure, and I am full of regret for ever getting involved in a relationship with you. I have moved on, you should too,’ He spits, without remorse.
Dara remains still, but seems disconnected from her surroundings.
‘By the way, how on earth did you trail me? Can someone call security to take this pest out,’
Smith bawls before taking a step towards Ade.
Those dreaded words…….”you are fired” at the tip of his tongue but he somehow seemsunable to manage them.
Life drains quickly from his eyes as he falls to the ground. A pen knife sticking out of his neck,
causing a gaping hole in its wake that fills quickly with blood. His clothes are drenched in a pool of blood forming, as he chokes to death.
Dara, satisfied and elated with smirks announces….’Now I can move on,’ with another wicked smile escaping from her flushed, oval face. She happily bends over Smith’s lifeless body to
retrieve her weapon.
Ade’s heart pounds, his head spins and his eyes see nothing but darkness, his ears filled withcries of co-workers who are now boldly in the front line.
‘Somebody, wake me from this nightmare,’ He raves, like a lunatic, unrestrained.
This was no longer business as usual, a whole human had just been murdered in cold blood, right in front of him. Worse still, he was the chief instigator of the scenario leading to the crime.
‘What if I am considered an accomplice,’ His thoughts race back and forth like a pendulum clock, failing at it’s renowned job of telling time.
Sirens blaze through wall street, but it is difficult to tell if they are from the hospital’s ambulance or the police.
Fear, a very dark presence on the edge of his vision cripples him as he whispers……’What happens now? Where do I go from here?
